After the onset of gold rush in California, a large number of miners and prospectors from all over the world made settlements all across the state. Findings of gold date back to 1948 in a region called Mosquito Valley somewhere in El Dorado County.

One of the most well-known settlements during this period was that of Newtown situated a few miles east of Placerville. It is known that Newtown was established in 1853 by Swiss people who were fluent in Italian.

In the town of Newtown

Newtown soon had tremendous growth in its infrastructure and attracted over 5000 people. The township started gaining popularity after two huge gold nuggets were found very close to Newtown, one weighing around a kilogram and the other a little more than that. Soon stories about the readily available gold spread all across and many more prospectors moved in.

On hearing the tales of the easily accessible gold, there was a sailor named Jack who came from Finland and was rather inexperienced with mining. In his quest for gold, he would often listen to other prospectors working in the camps and was eventually convinced by three pranksters to buy a piece of land which they claimed to be full of gold.

The three miners thought that the land did not bear any gold but to their surprise, when Jack explored the area he discovered one of the richest mines in El Dorado.

Sailor Jack’s mine was known by many different names such as the One Spot Mine, Pinchgut Mine or the Pinchemtight Mine. The mine is at a distance of around 2 miles from Newtown and was known for its production of as much as $40,000 of gold in its initial stage back when gold was priced at less than $20 per ounce. In the present times only the remains of Newtown can be found on the way to Placerville and the exact location of the mine is not known.

Discovery of the Lost Goose Egg Mine

While working on the site of Sailor Jack’s mine, one of the miners made a discovery of another mine that lay slightly above the sailor’s mine in the region of Goose Neck Ravine. In the gorge, the man found a large number of gold nuggets and took some to share and prove his discovery to the other prospectors.

A majority of miners decided to go up to the location of the newly discovered mine along with the original explorer but to their disappointment, they could not find the same place again.

Many attempts were made to look for the mine but as of now, no such mine has been found. People often suggest that there is a possibility that the gold nuggets which were found by the employee working at the sailor’s mine were actually from the same source as that of Sailor Jack Mine. Thus the lost Goose Egg Mine of El Dorado still remains lost.

The general area of the Lost Goose Egg Mine is in the heart of gold country, and there is no doubt that the rich mining history in this area makes the likelihood of this lost mine very real.